Madison VanDenburg American Idol Audition Video

This 16-Year-Old's American Idol Audition Had Judges Calling Her "the Next Kelly Clarkson"

Grab a cozy sweater, dear reader, because you're about to get a serious case of the chills, courtesy of Madison VanDenburg. A 16-year-old from upstate New York, Madison auditioned for American Idol on March 10 and blew judges Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, and Luke Bryan away with her impressive vocal range. The teen chose Dan and Shay's "Speechless" for her audition, singing and playing the piano and subsequently leaving both viewers and all three judges in absolute awe with her breathtaking rendition.

As soon as she wrapped up her performance, Richie exclaimed, "Do you know what you just did? You rendered us speechless to the point that Katy is showing me goosebumps on her arms." (It's true! Perry really did visibly brush away chills as VanDenburg belted out the track, as did Bryan.) Perry added, "It's my first goosebumps . . . I'm so glad that you gave me back a pulse." To top things off, the judges went so far as to call her "the next Kelly Clarkson," and to be honest, we couldn't possibly agree more.

Between Myra Tran, Alejandro Aranda, and now VanDenburg, it looks like there's some serious competition for the singing show's 17th season. Watch the 16-year-old's stunning audition video above, and you'll certainly have the same exact reaction as the judges.